The present invention relates to a polyurethane-felt golf club handle grip which is tacky and shock absorbing, but has the smooth exterior surface of a conventional rubber grip.
Applicant has previously developed resilient grips which are both tacky and also successfully reduce shock to the muscle and arm joints of the users of golf clubs, tennis racquets, racquet ball racquets, baseball bats and other impact imparting devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813 granted to applicant Aug. 25, 1998. Such earlier golf club grips utilize a polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer to define a strip which is spirally wrapped around an underlisting sleeve which is adhered to the handle of a golf club or to a bare golf club handle. The sides of the felt layer taper from the side edges of the strip and the polyurethane layer is formed with recessed reinforcement side edges which overlap to form a water retarding joint between the side edges of the strip when the strip is spirally wrapped around the underlisting sleeve or the bare golf club handle.
While grips such as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813 afford superior results as compared to conventional rubber golf club grips, some golfers prefer a grip having the smooth exterior surface of a conventional rubber golf club grip, rather than the interrupted exterior surface resulting from the gaps between the overlapped recessed reinforcement edges of grips such as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813.
A preferred form of shock resistant handle grip embodying the present invention includes a strip of bonded-together polyurethane and felt layers which is spirally wrapped about either a resilient underlisting sleeve or the bare handle of a golf club or other impact imparting device, the polyurethane layer being outside the felt layer. The polyurethane layer of the first side edge of the strip is heat compressed to provide a recessed reinforcement edge surface. The polyurethane layer of the second side edge area of the strip is formed with a compressed heat densified area. The felt layer of the first side edge is skived to slant upwardly and outwardly from the underside of the strip. Both the polyurethane and felt layers of the second side edge are skived to slant upwardly and outwardly from the underside of the strip. A conventional double-sided adhesive tape is attached to the underside of the felt layer. To apply the polyurethane-felt strip to the underlisting sleeve of a golf club handle or alternatively to the bare handle of a golf club or the like, the protective strip of the adhesive tape is removed and the strip is spirally wrapped about the underlisting sleeve or bare handle with the second side edge of the strip overlapping the first side edge of the strip along the length of the strip. The resulting juncture between the second and first side edges provides a tight seam between the overlapped side edges along the length of the grip resulting in a smooth exterior surface of the grip which is engaged by a golfer""s hands. Such smooth exterior surface resembles the smooth exterior surface of a conventional rubber golf club grip preferred by some golfers. However, the grip of my present invention provides the advantages of polyester-felt grips of the type shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,813. The grip of my present invention can also provide a long service life, may be manufactured at a low cost, and can be readily installed by a user.